Collapsible tube machine



Jgng 19, 1934. w. PRUSSING 1,963,230

CQLLAPSIBLE TUBE MACHINE Filed Dec. .1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR NEY June 19, 1934. w, ussmG 1,963,280

COLLAPS IBLE TUBE MACHINE Filed Dec. 51. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 19, 1934 1 UNITED STATES PATENT! OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE TUBE MACHINE Walter lrussing, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Victor Metal Products Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 31, 1931, Serial No. 584,046

13 Claims. (01. 23-38) This invention relates to machines wherein mechanism for the member 15 need not therethin metal collapsible tubes of the type designed fore be illustrated nor described. The turret to contain pasty or creamy materials are finis then rotated into thestationary position inished, capped, and dismounted for further opdicated by the mandrel 16, which is then rotated.

5 eration thereon. During the rotation of the mandrellfi, the end In my prior application for patent for autotrimming tool 17 is brought into contact with matic tube finishing and advancing machine, the neck end of the tube, to trimthe tube evenly Serial No. 526,025, filed March'28th, 1931, I have and to expose the usual'opening 18 thereof comshown a machine wherein a'collapsible tube is municating with the interior of the tube. The

10 mounted upon the mandrel at one station, threaded rolls 19 are also brought into engagetrimmed at the next station, threaded at the ment'with the neck 20 of the'tube to cut the third station," and dismounted at the fourth threads 21 therein. station. The presentinvention is applicable to The turret is then advanced to the next stathe machine disclosed in said prior application tion indicated by the numeral 12 (Fig. 1). At

5 as well as to various types of tube finishing this station, a cap as 8 is mounted on the now machines, but is illustrated in connection with threaded neck of the tube as by means of the a machine including an additional station cap grippers 22. On the next advance of the wherein the tube is capped. turret to the station indicated by the numeral 23,

My invention contemplates the provision of the tube is trimmed to the proper length by the 20 means for positively and automatically distrimming tool 24, leaving the waste piece 61 on mounting from'the mandrel, the tube and the the mandrel. The turret is then rotated to the waste material resulting from the trimming of dismounting station indicated, by the numeral the open end of the tube, after the various op- 25, at which station the tube is dismounted from erations thereon have been completed. the mandrel on to the dischargeplate 26. The

25 The various objects of my invention will be capped. and" trimmed tube may then be further clear from the description which follows, and advanced, if desired, for further operation from the drawings, in which, thereon by means 'SUCh as are illustrated in my Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the turret of said co-pending';application, or 'by the means the machine showing the means for performing disclosed in my co-pending application for pat- 30 the various operations upon the tube and showent for Collapsible tube mechanism serial No. ing, particularly, themeans for dismounting the 539,287, filed May 22nd, 1931. n tube at the last station. Since an important feature ofmy invention Fig. 2 is a front elevation. of the same, and is the tube dismounting means, said means will Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of part of now bedescribed in detail. 35 the dismounting means. Pivoted to the turret frame or casing 10, as ,90 In that practical embodiment of my invenat 27, is the lever 28. One end 29 of the lever tion which I have illustrated by way of example, is connected to a suitable reciprocating bar, link the turret frame 10 carries the intermittently 'or rod 30 operated by any suitable moving part of revoluble turret 11 and advances said turret one the machine. The other end 31 of the lever is 40 fifth of a revolution at regular intervals. connected to one end of the link 32', the cross The turret 11 further carries a series of tubepin 33 serving to secure the other end of the link supporting mandrels which are rotated at the to the double lever 34. The lever 34 is preferproper time during the various operations-upon ably U-shaped to provide a pair of similar arms the tube. Since the means for rotating the 35 and 36 joined by the cross member 37. The

45 turret and 01 rotating the mandrels thereon are lug 38 depending from said cross member isapwell known in the art, further-description of ranged between the ears 39 of the dismounting the same and detailed illustration thereof is arm 40, and held to said' ears by any suitable deemed unnecessary. means such as the bolt 41. A second lever 42,

It need merely be said that the tube 13 is similar to the lever 34 but of less length, is also so advanced from the loading plate or platform provided with a lug 43 inserted between the pair 5 9 and mounted on the mandrel 14 at the first of upstanding ears 44 of the .dismounting memstation by means of a reciprocatory member 15 her 40, and similarly secured thereto by the pushing upon the neck end. of. the tube in a bolt l5. The longer'lever 34. is pivoted to the manner fully described in my said co-pending slide 46 as at 47, while the upper end of the application Serial No. 526,025. The operating shorter lever 42 is similarly pivoted to. the slide as at 48 in such a position that it remains parallel to the lever 34 at all times.

For guiding the slide 46, the guide bar 49, preferably square in cross-section, is provided. The slide 46 is mounted on the guide 49 in any suitable manner for reciprocation thereon. I prefer, however, to make the slide of two similar sections 50 and 51, shaped to fit the guide bar 49, and bolted together as by means of the bolts 52 passing through the projecting ears 53 of said sections. A suitable stop member as 54 may be secured between one of the pairs of said ears 53, and carries the adjustable stop screw 55 designed to engage the upper end of the lever 34 for limiting the movement of said lever in one direction.

Said stop member 54 may further be provided with an upright extension 56 of the proper height to engage the cross pin 33 joining the upper ends of the lever arms 35 and 36, so as to limit the movement of the lever 34 in the opposite direction.

Means are provided for normally resisting movement of the slide 46 on the guide bar 49. Said means comprises the compression spring 59, supported by the spring casing 57, which is suitably secured to the slide section 50 as by means of the threads 58. At one of its ends, said spring abuts against the end of the casing 5''! while at its other end, the spring engages one face of the guide bar 49. It will therefore be seen that due to the pressure of the spring against the guide bar, said spring normally resists movement of the slide along the guide bar until the frictional spring resistance has been overcome. It will be noted that the dismounting arm 40 is of arcuate shape and when in operative position, is arranged concentrically of the mandrel and of the tube thereon. However, to avoid injury of the frail collapsible tube, a more or less yieldable pad 6%) of suitable friction material such as felt, rubber, leather or the like, also of arcuate shape, is secured to the dismounting arm 40 and is of sufficient length to make good contact with the tube 13 and with the severed end or waste piece 61 thereof. It will be understood that reciprocation of the dismounting arm 40 in the proper direction causes the tube together with the waste piece 61 to be dismounted from the mandrel on to the discharge plate 26.

The operation of my new dismounting mechanism is as follows:

It being assumed that the tube 13 is in the position on the mandrel 25 indicated in Fig. 2, the link 30 is about to be reciprocated toward the left, thereby swinging the upper end of the lever 28 toward the right. Such movement of the lever 28 causes movement of the link 33 toward the right and rotates the levers 34 and 42 about their pivots in a clockwise direction, the pressure of the spring 59 against the guide bar 49 being at this time sufficient to prevent any movement of the slide 46 on the guide bar.

The above-described rotation of the parallel levers 34 and 42 carries the dismounting pad 60 into firm engagement with the surface of the tube and of the waste piece 61. Further movement of the link 32 presses the pad 60 so firmly into engagement with the tube that further rotation of the parallel levers is prevented-whereupon the levers become locked to. the slide and the force exerted by the link 32 overcomes the friction of the spring 59 against the guide bar 49, and causes the slide 46 to move toward the right along the guide bar, thereby carrying the tube and waste axially of and past the free end of the mandrel and dismounting the tube and waste piece.

It will be understood that if desired, and in order to prevent undue pressure by the dismount ing arm upon the tube, and to prevent possible injury of the tube, the stop screw 55 may be so adjusted as to engage the pin 33, to prevent excessive rotation of the parallel levers 34 and 42.

The dismounting operation is completed just before the link 32 and the lever 28 begin their return movement. At the beginning of the return movement of the link 32, the parallel levers 34 and 42 are first swung about their pivots in a counter-clockwise direction to raise the dismounting arm 40, the spring 58 at this time exerting sufficient force to prevent any movement of the slide 46, and then, after the levers arev halted by the stop member 56, the slide is moved to its initial position.

It will be seen that I have provided simple and efiicient means for finishing a thin, frail, collapsible tube and for positively dismounting the finished tube from the mandrel therefor.

While I have shown and described a certain specific embodiment of my invention, I do not rying a series of mandrels, means for trimming,

threading and capping a tube, and means for re- E moving the capped tube from the supporting mandrel therefor, comprising a member adapted frictionally to engage the outer cylindrical face of the tube, a pair of parallel levers operatively connected to said member, and means for first rotating said levers to bring the member into firm engagement with the tube surface and then to slide the member, levers and tube as a unit axially of the mandrel a sufiicient distance to carry the open end of the tube past the free end of the,

mandrel.

2. In a collapsible tube finishing machine provided with means for capping and finishing a tube including a tube-supporting mandrel, means for trimming the open end portion of the tube to leave a waste piece on the mandrel, and means for dismounting the tube and the waste piece from the mandrel comprising a partly cylindrical friction member shaped to fit the outer surface of the tube, and means for first carrying said mem-, her into engagement with the tube and the waste' piece and then for sliding said member, the tube and the waste piece as a unit.

3. In a collapsible tube finishing machine, a mandrel adapted to have a thin cylindrical 001-, lapsible tube mounted thereon, and means for dismounting the tube from the mandrel comprising a member in the shape of a cylindrical segment, means for moving the member longitudinally of the mandrel and for also moving the member to ward the mandrel, means for resisting dismounting movement of the member until said member has firmly engaged the tube on the mandrel and the movement of the member toward the mandrel has been completed and for then permitting longitudinal movement of the member in a direction to dismount the tube from the mandrel.

4. In a machine for operating upon collapsible tubes and provided with a series of intermittent- 1y movable mandrels and means for finishing and capping the tubes, a loading platform for sup-" porting tubes to be mounted on the mandrels, a reciprocating member for mounting the tube from the platform on to a mandrel, a delivery platform, and means for dismounting the finished and capped tube from a mandrel and on to the delivery platform, comprising a member adapted to engage the surface of the tube, a guide, a reciprocatory slide on the guide, a spring carried by the slide and normally engaging the guide to resist relative movement of the slide and the guide, and means for operatively connecting the slide and the member including an oscillatory lever mounted on the slide and connected to the member, and means for oscillating the lever to carry the member against the tube surface and then to overcome the resistance of the spring to move the slide along the guide and thereby to dismount the tube.

5. In a machine for operating upon thin collapsible tubes, a mandrel, a plate for receiving tubes dismounted from the mandrel, and means for dismounting a tube from the mandrel, comprising a slide, a member adapted to engage the surface of the tube, and means for operatively connecting the slide and the member, comprising means for initially resisting movement of the slide, means for first moving the member into engagement with the tube surface and for then moving the slide axially of the mandrel against the resistance of the slide movement-resisting means.

6. In a machine for finishing thin collapsible tubes, a mandrel adapted to have a tube mounted thereon, a member shaped and adapted to contact with a part of the surface of a tube on the mandrel, means for normally resisting movement of the member longitudinally of the mandrel and means for first moving the member into contact with the tube surface for pressing said member against said surface with a force greater than that exerted by said resisting means and for then moving the member axially of the mandrel.

7. In a machine for operating upon thin collapsible tubes, a partly cylindrical dismounting member adapted to fit the surface of a tube, a reciprocatory slide, and means operatively connected to the slide and the member for moving the member transversely of the slide and for then sliding the slide whereby longitudinal dismount ing movement of the slide is prevented until said means operates first to carry the member into engagement with a tube surface.

8. In a machine for operating upon thin metal collapsible tubes, a partly cylindrical friction member adapted to be brought into firm engagement with a tube surface, a guide, a slide comprising a pair of similar members bolted together, slidable on said guide, a lever pivoted to said slide intermediate its ends and pivoted at one end to the member, a second similar lever, means connected to the other end of the first-mentioned lever for oscillating said levers, and a spring carried by the slide and engaging the guide surface whereby dismounting movement of the slide on the guide is prevented until said levers have first carried the member into engagement with the tube.

9. In a machine'for operating upon thin metal collapsible tubes, a mandrel adapted to support a tube, a member adapted to engage the surface of a tube on the mandrel, and means for moving the member axially of the mandrel to dismount a tube thereon comprising a slide, means for guiding the slide in a direction axially of the mandrel, means for normally resisting movement of the slide, and means for operatively connecting the slide to the member whereby the member is first brought into engagement with the tube surface, and the slide member and tube are then moved as a unit when the member engages the tube surface with sufficient friction, and the resistance of the resisting means is overcome.

10. In a machine for operating upon thin metal collapsible tubes, a cylindrical mandrel adapted to enter into and to support a tube, a tube dismounting member adapted to engage the outer cylindrical surface of a tube on the mandrel, a slide, means pivoted to the slide and to the member for supporting said member and for moving said member and the tube bodily with the slide as a unit after the member has first been carried relatively to the slide by said means into engagement with the tube surface, and means for operating said pivoted means prior to said bodily movement of the member and slide in either direction. I

11. In a machine for operating upon thin metal collapsible tubes, a cylindrical tube supporting mandrel adapted to support a tube and a wastepiece, a dismounting member of sufficient length to engage the surfaces of the tube and the wastepiece, a slide, means for pivotally connecting the slide and the member, and means for actuating the pivoted means to first move the member relatively to the slide and then to move the member, the slide and the pivoted means longitudinally as a unit.

12. In a machine for operating upon collapsible tubes, a mandrel, a reciprocating member for mounting a tube on the mandrel, and means for dismounting the tube from the mandrel comprising a member adapted to engage the surface of the tube, a lever pivoted to said member, and means for actuating said lever to first carry the member toward the mandrel and into engagement with the tube and then to move the member, the tube and the lever as a unit bodily and axially of the mandrel to carry the tube off the mandrel.

13. In a collapsible tube finishing machine, a mandrel adapted to have a thin cylindrical collapsible tube mounted thereon, and means for dismounting the tube from the mandrel comprising a member for engaging the surface of the tube, means for moving the member longitudinally of the mandrel, and for also moving the member toward the mandrel, means for resisting dismounting movement of the member until said member has firmly engaged the tube on the mandrel and the movement of the member toward the mandrel has been completed and for then permitting longitudinal movement of the member in a direction to dismount the tube from the mandrel.

' WALTER PRUSSING. 

